Last week, I wrote about what Pope Leo said at his General Audience on August 26, 2026. He was looking at the reasons that bishops decided that the reform of the liturgy would be a major work of the Second Vatican Council. He concluded that the faithful cannot be passive at the liturgy leading to the promotion of active participation by those attending the Mass.
Another point Pope Leo made in his address was that the liturgical ideas that came from Vatican II were not thought up on the spot by a few crusaders looking for change. Instead, the changes came out of a liturgical movement which had been going on throughout the 20th Century. Scholars and writers, including the Popes of that time period, were discussing ways to make the scripture passages and prayer texts more accessible to everyone. Pope Leo said: “The liturgical reform promoted by the Second Vatican Council is thus firmly rooted in the living tradition of the Church.”
It is not for us to bring our own personal piety to the Mass and impose it on all who are present. Pope Leo quotes the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, #26: In this regard, it is worth recalling that the Conciliar Constitution affirms that “Liturgical services are not private functions, but are celebrations of the Church, which is the ‘sacrament of unity’, namely, the holy people united and ordered under their bishops. Therefore liturgical services pertain to the whole body of the Church; they manifest it and have effects upon it.
He also said that that the reform was trying to get back to the essentials of the liturgy and “to streamline the order of the celebration.” The “liturgy is made up of immutable elements divinely instituted, and of elements subject to change.” Vatican II meant to remove the “intrusion of anything out of harmony with the inner nature of the liturgy” or those parts which “have become unsuited to it.”
What are some of the things removed from the Mass after the Second Vatican Council? The Prayers at the Foot of the Altar at the beginning of the Mass were a dialogue between priest and servers. I know some older men who can still recite the server responses in Latin – many of whom still don’t know what the prayers mean. There were many longer prayers that the priest said at the Offertory (the Preparation of the Gifts) and before Communion. There was also the Last Gospel. At the end of Mass, the priest recited the beginning of the Gospel of John.
There were additions made to the Mass as well. The Universal Prayer (Petitions for the needs of the world) and the Sign of peace are two that come to mind.
The Mass evolves, but not because of a single influencer. Unity comes from the whole Body of Christ, praying with One Voice, this Universal liturgy of the Church.
